Separated Paths
by Pinto
Summary: What would happen if Marco had taken a different p


***Author's Note~ This story if you don't know already is from third person. Why? Who knows? I didn't feel like writing first person. And there's nothing you can do about it! MMWWWWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *Ahem* Anyway, please, enjoy!*****

  
  
  


Marco was with his good friend Jake in the arcade in the mall. His eyes were trained to the screen of the game, and you could see the intensity in his eyes. His hands moved like flashes of lightning, and concentration was evident.

Suddenly, Marco threw his hands in the air in triumph.

"Yes! The Magnificent Marco once again has kicked Jake's poor butt in the arcade. I'm king of the world!!"

Jake glanced at him. "That has got to be the lamest line in the world. And I let you win, just to tell you, so don't overdo the ego thing. I could have beat you easily."

Marco put on a grin. "Yeah, right Jakey-boy. I don't think so. I am the best. The greatest. The absolute arcade wonder of the world."

Jake put on a game face, with a trace of a smile in it. "Bring it on, Marco!" He grabbed a quarter from his pocket.

Marco started digging through his pocket, but came up with nothing. He looked up. "Sorry, Jake. I'm just gonnna have to wait for another day to prove that you are wrong beyond belief. I'm out of quarters."

Jake smiled. "Nice excuse, Chicken-Boy. Anyway, it's getting late. We'd better leave."

Jake and Marco left the arcade and headed toward the escalator. Before they hopped on, they heard someone calling behind them.

"Hey! Jake! Marco!" Marco and Jake quickly turned their heads in the direction of the voice.

Rachel was running towards them with her friend Cassie. Rachel had three bags from various stores. Cassie looked like an animal trapped in a cage. The mall wasn't her place. They soon caught up to Jake and Marco.

"Hey guys! Let me guess. You were in the arcade, playing endless games, trying to figure out who can kick who's butt, but were cut short in your quest by shortage of quarters." Rachel laughed.

"That is where you're wrong! We both know that I can kick Jake's butt, but Jake just wanted to try and beat me." Marco grinned.

Jake ignored Marco. His attention was on Cassie. "Do you guys want us to walk home with you?"

"Oh puh-lease!" Rachel snapped. "You think just because we're girls we need some big maaaan....." She was cut off by Cassie.

"I wouldn't mind you walking back with us."

Jake smiled at her. Marco broke the awkwardness. "After you, my ladies!" He said with a slight bow towards the escalator.

Rachel gave Marco a look then jumped on the escalator. Everyone followed.

The ride down was quiet. Cassie and Jake kept looking subtly at each other. Marco kept making quiet gagging noises.

At the bottom, they heard someone else. "So, like, maybe I'll walk home with you guys." They all looked over. It was this new kid. His name was Tobias.

"Sure, Tobias. Come on." Rachel said, with her supermodel grin. Tobias blushed slightly as he joined the small group.

Soon the small group had made their way to outside the building. As they headed towards the street, Marco suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, no! I forgot! I told my dad I would pick up some milk and bread. I'm gonna have to split."

Jake looked over. "Okay, Marco. I'll see you tomorrow, first hour. And remember, I LET you win."

"Yeah, don't you wish!" Marco said with a smirk on his face. He quickly broke off from the rest of the group.

He hurried through the streets, pulling his light jacket closer to him. The streets were dark, with an occasional street light illuminating the sidewalk. He shivered, not from being cold but from being scared. He never did like this part of town. There were a couple of gangs that hung around here.

Then, the Super America came into view. Marco sighed a breath of relief. He rushed into the store and grabbed some 2% milk and a loaf of generic brand bread. He quickly paid for the items and grabbed them as he hurried out.

Once back out on the street, he headed out at a jog, wanting to get home fast.

As he ran across the street he casually glanced up. Something caught his eye. He stopped. It shot across the sky, quite close.

_That was a cool shooting star...._ he thought. He forgot about the gangs that hung around here as he looked up. He didn't hear the footsteps behind him.

Suddenly someone grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. He spun him around to face him.

"Hey, there." said a rough voice. "Wondering if you could spare some change." Marco stood there confused, looking up at the 20 year old. A knife started to glitter in the lamplight. Marco's eyes widened.

"Apparently you didn't quite get my point. Give me your money." The guy said angrily.

Marco quickly dug through his pockets and gave the man the $9.74 he had left from the bread and milk. The man took it and looked.

"That's all? Nine bucks?" He glared at Marco. "Next time you won't be let off quite so easily." He shoved Marco into the street and then ran off.

Marco picked himself up from the ground and stood there shaking. Then he broke out in a run for his apartment. Reality hit him as he realized that the guy could have killed him.

Marco reached his house in a matter of minutes. He came in the door and locked it behind him. He glanced over by the TV. His dad was sitting there, watching some old sci-fi movie.

"Dad? I'm home." He said. His dad glanced over. "I got the groceries." His dad smiled.

"Thanks, Marco." Then he turned back to the TV. Marco walked over to the small kitchen and put the milk and bread away. Then he turned and went to his room.

When he got inside, he shut the door. Then he went over to his bed and fell face first onto it. He fell asleep before he got a chance to change his clothes.

  


The next day Marco was at his locker, finding his books he would need for morning classes. He quickly shut his locker and headed for his class as the warning bell rang.

He came in the room and plopped into his seat. He quickly glanced around looking for Jake. He wasn't there. Marco was confused. Jake was usually there right away in the morning.

Then, right before the last bell rang, Jake ran in, and slid in his seat, next to Marco's.

"Man, where have you been?" Marco whispered over to Jake, as the teacher quickly took roll. Jake just gave him this really tired expression.

"Marco?" The teacher was looking at him.

"I know, I was just telling Jake to quiet down so I could do some learning." She slightly rolled her eyes and continued on.

Marco glanced over at Jake, expecting a smile or something on his face, but he just kept staring into nowhere. Marco sat there a minute. Jake would usually laugh when Marco would say something like that. But something was wrong. Jake wasn't acting like himself.

Marco then decided he had better pay attention to what the teacher was saying, because mid-term was coming up. He sat there for the next 40 minutes listen to the teacher drone on and on about osmosis. He occasionally jotted down a note. By the end of class he had his head on his desk and was on the verge of falling asleep.

He was jolted up by the bell. He jumped up and headed for his next class.

"See ya at lunch, Jake." He looked back at Jake.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. You too Marco."

Marco wandered through the halls, not really paying attention to anyone around him. What was up with Jake? All of the sudden he ran into someone.

"Mr. Chapman!" he yelped. Mr. Chapman looked at him for a second.

"Marco, just the student I was looking for."

"Huh?" It was Marco's turn to be confused

"Why don't you come to my office." he said, more of a command than a question. Marco followed him.

Once in the room, Mr Chapman shut the door. He sat in his chair. He motioned for Marco to sit, also.

"Marco, I know that your father has been having a....rough...time now that your mother has..passed away. I know it must be hard for you too."

Marco sat there confused. Why was Mr. Chapman bringing this up now? His mother had died nearly a year ago.

"The reason I wanted to talk to you is there is a new group that, I believe could help you and your father. It's called the Sharing. We'll be having a meeting Thursday, and I think that it would be good for you and your dad to come." He looked at Marco expectantly. "I hope to see you at the next meeting. I'll write you a pass to your class."

Marco walked out the room, thinking. Maybe if his dad went and made friends, he would go back to his normal life, the one he had before his mom died. Then, they could be a family again. _Yeah._ Marco thought. _We'll try this out._

  


The next day Marco told Jake what had happened. Jake's eyes widened slightly. Then he tried to act casual.

"So...are you gonna become a full member?" He asked. There was tension in his voice.

Marco looked at him. "I'm not sure. I'm just going to one meeting. If I..I mean **we** like it, maybe." he said.

"So when's the meeting?" He asked.

"Umm....it's tomorrow night. At 7:00 I think."

"Ok, Marco. I gotta get to class. You should too." He ran off, leaving Marco. Marco turned and went to his class.

  


The next night Marco came to the school for the meeting with his dad. His dad's eyes were hollow. He was not used to being around so many people. Marco went over to Mr. Chapman.

"Hey, Mr. Chapman. This is my dad, Jeremy. Dad, this is Mr. Chapman. He's the vice principle." Marco looked on as they shook hands.

"I'm glad to see that could make it, Jeremy." Mr. Chapman said with a smile.

"Yeah, it's been a while that I've been in the old rat race." Marco's dad said with a smile.

The rest of the night Marco spent with his dad, getting him to know some of the people that he was friends with, and some of his friends parents.

Around 9:00, Marco's dad decided it was time to leave.

"Well, Marco, I've had fun but I'm really getting tired. Do you want to leave?" Marco paused a minute. He'd been having fun.

"Uh, no thanks. I'll get a ride from a friend." Marco decided.

His dad glanced. "Okay. I'll see you when you get home."

Marco stayed and played volleyball with his friends for a while. Soon Chapman came up to him.

"Marco, can I speak to you outside the gym?" Marco nodded and headed out side the gym. As soon as he was out, something came up behind him and grabbed him. Marco started to struggle.

"What going on?!" Marco asked in fear. He looked behind him to see who had grabbed him. He gasped. There was a huge beast behind him. And it had a lot of blades. Mr. Chapman then looked at the creature.

"Islirm, take him down to the pool." Mr. Chapman looked at Marco.

"Have fun." he sneered.

Marco's eyes got larger as the creature pulled him into a closet. Inside the closet a door opened. Marco was dragged down.

As he was pulled down the stairs he could hear screams and shouts coming from below. At the bottom of the stairs, it opened into a huge cave.

Marco was dragged to a pier. He started yelling. He was silenced when he saw a tiger.

He froze. A tiger? Wha..huh? The tiger roared. Then a small hord of wild animals came after him.

The cages were broken through and aliens were being brought down. Suddenly a wolf attacked his captor. To his amazment, it talked....well kind of.

< RUN MARCO!>

He stood there, in bewildement, from the fact that a wolf had just talked.

< RUN YOU IDIOT!>

This time he took the wolf's advice. He took off for the stairs. Other people had the same idea as him. He ran up the endlessly long stairs until he reached the top.

He ran out of the school and then stopped. He stood there gasping for air. He then went to his house and to his room. He sat there for a minute. Then he realized what he would have to do.

People would learn about this. Oh, yes, they would.

  


##### Alright, I know it wasn't the best ending, but it'll work okay, I guess. Oh, well.


End file.
